Q) I AM a 79-year-old man, recently retired, and have pains in my hip down to my ankle.
After scans, I have been told the wear on my hip is as you would expect for my age. But I am unable to walk far or stand for long.
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It has been like this for 15 months and is getting me down.
Q) Pain as we get older, especially due to osteoarthritis, is normalised and many people end up believing that they just have to live with it.
This is dangerous as it leads to a vicious cycle of people becoming more inactive, which makes the joint pain worse and can add the complication of weight gain which exacerbates the problems.
Osteoarthritis is common in older age and often thought of as “wear and tear” but this is unhelpful.
It implies that our joints are car tyres, which inevitably degrade with time. But we are not and our joints are made up of complex, living tissues that our bodies can repair.
So I tend to talk about “wear and repair” and this brings us to the first, and most accessible treatment for osteoarthritis, which is physical activity.
I know that this can feel unachievable but with good pain relief and support, there’s great evidence to prove that physical activity can improve symptoms.
Programmes such as ESCAPE-pain educate you on exercise when managing hip or knee arthritis.
There are many other treatments and solutions such as medication, steroid injections and surgery for some people.
But we must not normalise arthritis and not underestimate the importance of movement in preventing and treating this.
E-mail Dr Zoe: [email protected]